The field of the invention relates to internal combustion engines, more particularly to a coolant pump for use in an internal combustion engine.
Liquid-cooled internal combustion generally includes a coolant pump having a rotatably drive impeller shaft which extends through an aperture into a working chamber filled with coolant A seal surrounding the shaft inhibits the coolant from leaking out of the working chamber through the aperture. Typically, however, a small amount of coolant manages to leak past the seal, and drip onto the ground.
Many coolant pumps have a reservoir to hold coolant that seeps past the seal. The reservoir typically has a vent hole that allows the coolant to evaporate into the atmosphere. However, if the seal fails, the coolant reservoir fills faster than the coolant can evaporate, and flows out of the vent hole onto the ground. The coolant will continue leaking until all of the coolant has leaked out of the engine without a warning to the user, or until the user notices the coolant on the ground. If the user does not notice the leaking coolant, the engine will fail.
The present invention provides an internal combustion engine having a crankcase with at least one cylinder and a coolant passageway formed therein surrounding the cylinder. An engine air intake supplies combustion air to the cylinder, and a coolant pump pumps coolant through the coolant passageway for cooling the cylinder. A reservoir in fluid communication with the air intake collects coolant leaking from the coolant pump. Coolant in the reservoir is drawn into the air intake, and ingested by the cylinder. An excessive amount of coolant ingested by the engine will degrade engine performance warning a user of a coolant leak.
A general objective of the present invention is to provide an internal combustion engine which prevents coolant from leaking onto the ground. This objective is accomplished by feeding coolant leaking from the coolant pump to the engine for ingestion by the engine with minimal impact.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an internal combustion engine which can indicate a pump seal failure. This objective is accomplished by feeding coolant leaking past a failed seal in the coolant pump to the engine for ingestion by the engine to degrade engine performance, and warn the user of the seal failure.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of the invention.